In mobile devices, it is desirable to have antennas that are inexpensive yet efficient. While there have been many such antennas, previously, antennas with variable radiation patterns have not been widely used in mobile devices. Such antennas have not been used because it has not been considered feasible in terms of cost, scale, and gain. And, reasons to use such antennas have not previously been appreciated.
Regarding technical feasibility, consider that for commercial devices it is preferred to use inexpensive antennas for communication. However, these antennas provide only one type of radiation pattern. For WiFi and Bluetooth protocols, the radiation pattern is omni-directional. Other protocols such as the NFC (Near Field Communication) protocol use inductive coupling to communicate, and point-to-point communications require directional antennas. To date, there have been no antennas with cost and size suitable for mobile devices that can function as both directional and omni-directional antennas. Patch antennas are often used in mobile devices. However, these antennas can be affected by the substrate on which they reside, and inexpensive substrates tend to lower antenna gain.
Regarding desirability, there has not previously been appreciation of the possible uses of variant radiation pattern antennas in mobile devices. Because mobile devices are typically used in unpredictable or random orientations, directional radiation tends to be impractical; omni-directional radiation patterns allow for any device orientation. However, the present inventors have understood that mobile devices may be used in settings that are suitable for directional radiation patterns. For general-purpose mobile devices such as smart phones, cell phones, tablet-type computers, etc., directional communication may be desirable for security reasons; a directional link is difficult to intercept. Also, some uses may involve known orientations, allowing for a pre-determined radiation direction to be used. For instance, if a mobile device is near a terminal, for example a point-of-sale terminal or a proximity reader, a specific device orientation (and corresponding emission direction) can be easily accomplished by a person holding a device. For example, if a smart phone has directional capacity in a direction away from a back side of the smart phone, a person can point the back side of a smart phone toward a terminal when using the phone with the terminal. Even where security is not an issue, directional radiation, where possible, may help reduce power consumption. For example, sustained communication over a directional link might require less power than an omni-directional link.
Techniques related to antennas with selectable radiation patterns are discussed below.